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Citizen complaint of the day: Don't chain your bike to a tree
By adamg on Wed, 08/26/2020 - 9:25am
A disgusted citizen filed a 311 complaint about a newly killed tree in an alley off Clarendon Street in the South End:
There was a bicycle chained to this tree this morning and it looks like someone chopped the tree down to steal the bike. Devastating to lose a beautiful living tree on our street this way.
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Comments
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No one saw someone cutting a tree on Clarendon? No camera caught this?
Not on Clarendon
On an alley off of Clarendon.
It’s likely the tree had
It’s likely the tree had greater value than the bike which never should have been attached to a tree.
not in today's market
not in today's market
Maybe don't blame the victim?
A person is the victim of theft, and we're blaming her rather than the thief?
The tree is the victim
The tree is the victim. This person can possibly buy another bike, even if it takes longer due to hardship. Harder to grow another tree.
But somehow, I think a person with limited means would not have chained bike to a tree in the first place. They would know better what people are capable of and lengths they could go to.
Agree the tree is the victim,
Agree the tree is the victim, but replacing a tree that size isn't super-expensive.
The real victim is the tree.
The real victim is the tree.
Perhaps a cautionary tale
This could be along the lines of "don't leave your car running with the doors unlocked while you pop into a store for a minute."
Heck, a neighbor had a moped stolen from him while it was chained to a stop sign. I hate to say it, but I noticed the missing sign before I realized what was chained to it. The thief (or thieves) cut the sign down, which is harder than sawing the tree in this story.
No one's blaming anyone
It was a simple observation that the tree was chopped down to steal the bike.
The city does say not to lock
The city does say not to lock your bike to a tree.
https://www.boston.gov/departments/boston-bikes/park-your-bike#:~:text=T....
They should, though, for several reasons
Cambridge asks people not to lock bikes to trees because the banging of the frame and lock against the trunk can damage the thin layer of living tissue just under the bark, effectively girdling the tree over time and killing it.
I've never heard of someone cutting down a tree to steal a bike before, but I guess you can add that as a new reason.
Where was the gender of the
Where was the gender of the victim identified?
It wasn't. The commenter was
It wasn't. The commenter was obviously guessing, and traditionally he/him pronouns are used as singular gender unknown pronouns, but in modern writing, it has become more politically correct to use female singular pronouns in order to give female perspectives greater representation. There isn't really any graceful alternative in English since it lacks a gender neutral singular pronoun, and saying "his/her" is a pain and distracts from the point.
That really drives me crazy
It would be one thing if someone accidentally backed into the tree, but to cut it down and kill it? I have no words.
If people can kill people and
If people can kill people and animals without remorse what makes you think they have remorse for killing a tree?
This checks out
This checks out, I imagine someone stealing bikes (prices are sky high right now) probably are not environmentalists.
Alternate theory
They just hate those problematic pear trees and used the bike as a get away device.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-07-02/bradford-pears-threat...
(joke)
Except
That tree is a ginkgo.
Even messier (but pretty)
http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/science/2016/10/why_we_still_plant_smelly_ginkgo_trees.html
But
Almost everyone knows enough to plant MALE ginkgos, which do not smell. Occasionally a smelly one gets planted by mistake, but it's rare.
A few 'male only' cultivars
A few 'male only' cultivars are in development, but this is not foolproof either, as it is proven that the ginkgo trees can change sexes. So even if there is a way of telling male and female ginkgoes apart, that doesn't mean the sex of the tree is permanent.
https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/ornamental/trees/ginkgo/ginkgo-male-vs-...
You shouldn't chain to trees anyway
Locks and chains directly damage the trees. They rip up the bark and leave them open to infestation.
If you can bike, you can probably walk a little further and find a better place that will be less vulnerable to malicious opportunists.
I disagree about the better place
Trees are a bad choice that is very true. But looking on Google maps, there aren't any places to lock a bike. The ally indicated on the map is gated, i think this is actually a picture of gray street. That pipe you see in the back round is the only alternative nearby. All of the local street signage is attached to thick poles. If they just had a ulock then it wouldn't work.
Just bring it inside
You wouldn't leave your baby or pet chained to a tree overnight would you?
I would rather have to edge around the bike in a crowded apartment or even share a bed with it before I left it outdoors overnight.
Can't always
I volunteered at a place which was extremely bike unfriendly. They treated volunteers who biked as 2nd class citizens with a "stick it in the back attitude." They refused to acknowledge the preferential treatment provided for cars by paying for and maintaining a parking lot. A parking lot that would server far better as living ground; not dead asphalt.
This ironically in a non-profit overtly concerned about being politically correct. Classic middle class NIMBYs. Sadly they also considered themselves quite liberal. But liberalism in the "Do as I say, not as I do" variety. Better than the person advocating wives being servants to their husbands, but still too close to that dysfunctional craziness.
I'm sensing you have some unfinished business with them
Probably best that you parted ways.
Bike Thieves
I'd like to treat bike thieves like we used to treat horse thieves.
Better yet.
How we treat car thieves.
How do they treat
car thieves?
Meh
not much happens to car thieves. But it is actually pretty hard to steal an actual car without mugging or robbing the owner for the keys. If there is an assault, especially if it is a carjacking, tends to be treated more seriously. They use the same charge for stealing scooters and those can still be started with a screw driver.
Trees should never be used to chain ...
... anything to except unruly children.
JK.
But there is a huge problem with lack of designated safe bike parking and storage in Boston. And a lack of interest on the part of police for protecting the property of who they perceive as the poor.
It's the offense
Cops don't care about bicycle theft because bikes are not worth that much, it is not a violent crime, and well, there is a whole lot of other shit going on right now.
I think
The bicyclist got exactly what they deserved
huh?
How so?
Cautionary Tale
I have long tied up to sidewalk trees when there was nothing else available nearby. But it was always short period lockups - and I always worried about it a little, knowing that it would only take 8 or 10 saw strokes to grab the bike. But I've always figured - Nah! Who's going to go to the trouble of sawing down a tree to get to a bike would still have a lock attached to it? Plus, who carries around a crosscut saw with them?
No more!
(And I challenge anyone to cite a specific example of a tree with a 3"+ trunk that was mortally wounded by have a u-lock or loose cable draped around it for a few hours. Sheesh!)
Just curious...
Seems like such a clean cut - can a freshly cut tree trunk be "grafted" back together (and survive)?
Appears to be feasible with apple tree branches...
maybe, but those grafted
maybe, but those grafted fruit trees get alot of tender care. The tree will probably shoot out some branches if it gets enough water.
This has happened repeatedly
This has happened repeatedly in my neighborhood as well despite the frequent pleas to cyclists to not lock their bikes to trees! For what it's worth, it's not the city of Boston that pays for the trees where I live, it's we the neighbors so shut your trap about someone else will pay to replace it.
Bike thieves are carrying saws now?
What's next - blowtorches?
'Twas sawn, not chopped.
'Twas sawn, not chopped.
The chain in that bike lock
The chain in that bike lock is hi-tensile steel. It'll take you ten minutes to cut through it. But if you're lucky, you can hack through this tree in five minutes.